Housing Rebound Buoys Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae posted a third-quarter profit on Wednesday, the latest sign that it and fellow mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac are benefiting from the housing-market rebound.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae don't lend to consumers; rather, they buy and package mortgages into securities and sell them to investors with a guarantee against losses. The companies were put into conservatorship in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis as...